Mugs, and other drinking vessels, are in quite common usage. Mugs are commonly used to serve soft drinks, beer, or other beverages. Many times, the mugs are utilized in dimly-lit environments.
In dimly-lit environments, it would be extremely helpful to utilize mugs that have lights or other forms of illumination. In addition, the use of lights can be attractive to the users and can provide a form of amusement. The employment of lights on a drinking vessel can further attract attention to the user of the drinking vessel.
A variety of U.S. patents have issued, in the past, for illuminated beverage vessels. Virtually all of these prior art patents have employed old technology. Generally, these prior art patents have not provided a plurality of lights and have not directed the light in a radial pattern from the mug.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,355, issued on May 1, 1990, to Dietz et al. describes a two compartment vessel having an upper compartment for containing a liquid and a lower compartment for containing an electrical circuit including a lamp. A light transmitting wall separates the two compartments. A set of spaced electrical contacts disposed on the vessel are connected to the electrical circuit. In response to the lowering of the electrical impedance between the contacts as caused by moisture bridging the gap between the contacts, the lamp is actuated to shine light into the upper compartment. A set of contacts is disposed on the handle of the mug. When the handle of the mug is grabbed, the moisture on the surface of the skin of the user causes a lowering of the electrical impedance and illumination will occur in response to such lowering of electrical impedance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,113, issued on May 22, 1973, to T. H. Stott shows an illuminated wine glass. This optical display is made in the form of a wine glass having a hollow stem, a double walled bowl with an interior chamber communicating with the stem, and a bundle of optical fibers extending through the stem into the chamber where the terminal ends of the bundle are spread out by the chamber walls. A removable light, a switch, and a battery package are mounted in the base of the glass for shining light into the fiber bundle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,386, issued on Apr. 15, 1975, to D. Douglas shows a lighted beverage glass having a stem with a central bore extending therethrough. A cup-shaped glass mounting portion is provided at the top of the stem and has a glass shell member removably mounted therein. A plurality of horizontally extending gripping ribs are provided on the mounting portion to securely retain the glass therein. A light assembly is mounted in this central bore of the stem for directing light through the bottom of the glass. The light assembly includes an electric bulb, a dry cell battery, and a spring member mounted between the bulb and the battery. The annular shoulder serves as a seat for the electric bulb.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,213, issued on Jul. 5, 1977, to F. J. Norris describes an illuminating insert for a drinking glass. A battery pack, having a suction cup, is provided for mounting in a glass. The battery pack is connected to a cap which contains a light-emitting diode and a magnifying lens with an insert between the pack and the cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 919,691, issued on Apr. 27, 1909, to J. H. Cahill shows another form of electrically illuminated drinking glass. This drinking glass contains an incandescent electric lamp. A sub-base is provided which contains an electric battery. Suitable electric connections are provided between the battery and the lamp so as to cause the lamp to become illuminated. The purpose of this electrical illumination is to enhance the appearance of champagne bubbles within the glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,866, issued on Dec. 22, 1953, describes an illuminated drinking glass. A lamp is provided which directs light upwardly through an intermediate base of the drinking glass. A display is provided so as to present visual information to the drinker after the liquid is consumed. The sub-base is attached to the drinking vessel by threaded connections.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,374,344, issued on Mar. 19, 1968, to Rudolph et al. shows a lighted beverage glass having a hollow stem and a glass shell member removably mounted thereon. A unitary cartridge assembly is slidably inserted into the stem. This assembly includes a main body portion and a transparent tip member mounted at one end. A lamp holder member, a bulb, a compression spring, and a battery are mounted inside the body portion with the bulb positioned adjacent the transparent tip member. A switch knob member is threaded into the base of the cartridge body and adapted for manual rotation so as to turn the light bulb on and off. The light passing through the transparent tip of the cartridge assembly passes upwardly through the bottom of the glass shell portion into the liquid thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,579, issued on Jul. 22, 1952, to C. Deneboudes shows an ice bucket having a plurality of light bulbs which are arranged at generally equal intervals so as to direct light toward the interior of the ice bucket.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drinking vessel having a plurality of lights incorporated therein.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a drinking vessel having light directed radially outwardly from the drinking vessel.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a drinking vessel which uses light-emitting diodes for an illuminating effect.
It is still a object of the present invention to provide an illuminating drinking mug in which a detachable base member can be easily fastened to a mug.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an illumination mechanism for a drinking mug which is easy to manufacture, simple to assemble, reliable in operation, and relatively inexpensive.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.